House Rules QLD reveal: Hamptons style wins over judges

Two teams are winning with style but not everyone is impressing the judges
- by
Diana Moore

21 May
2018

Mel and Dave’s home on Hope Island in Queensland saw some of the teams nail the Hamptons rule and others miss the mark.

Josh and Brandon's entry

In last night's big reveal some teams got big smiles from the judges LLB, Wendy and Drew when they arrived to walk through Mel and Dave’s Gold Coast home.

Mel & Dave’s rules:

1. Transport us to The Hamptons

2. Bring in blue with a twist of lemon

3. Find a key vintage piece for every room

4. Build in a handy dining nook

5. Wrap our walls with wainscoting

Bonus Room – Outdoor dining room

Bonus Room Rule - Give us a Cape Cod dining deck

Toad and Mandy's bonus room - a 'Cape Cod' deck

The Hamptons style was successfully executed in many of the rooms, with the teams embracing this classic white-washed, elegant style with touches of luxe coastal elements and splashes of blue.

Vintage pieces were a little hit and miss, with some teams completely neglecting to include a vintage piece in their room.

Everyone embraced the wainscoting rule, lining the walls with moulded timber below the daddo rail to bring in plenty of texture and Hamptons-style detailing. Several teams opted for wallpaper above the wainscoting, most of which impressed the judges.

Josh & Brandon's sitting room

Josh and Brandon: (Hallway, ensuite and sitting room)

The hallway was a success with all of the judges and set them up to anticipate the rest of Josh and Brandon’s zone, saying it was a “great space.” Drew said, “We have some terrible entries, and this certainly isn’t one of them.” Wendy loved the wallpaper in the entry saying, “It was such a lovely choice, really hitting the house rules. Your wainscoting was absolutely spot on and the cornicing was also perfect.”

Their ensuite was less of a success and the sitting room failing to impress any of the judges: LLB said, “It looks as if it’s the corner of a little old peoples’ home where little old people come to die.” Wendy was unimpressed with the brothers' hasty paint job on the controversial antique sewing machine.

Josh & Brandon's ensuite

Toad and Mandy: (Kitchen, Westin’s bedroom and bonus room)

The dairy farmers' kitchen was a winner with all of the judges, in particular the dark blue island bench, which hit the Hamptons rule spot on. “I loved the cabinetry you chose,” said Wendy. “It was not only perfectly Hamptons, but it was really well thought out, and the deep blue was a great choice for the house rules.”

Wendy liked the handmade mast in Westin’s bedroom too, but it was a little too piratey for LLB, who thought it looked like a children’s hospital ward and said it, “has now officially been included in the House Rules black museum.”

In the bonus room, they judges liked the styling but would have preferred for the exterior brickwork to have been painted as it remained dominant in the space. Drew said “it needed to be rendered or sheeted in something,” to give it the ‘Cape Cod’ feel.

Toad and Mandy's bonus room on the deck

Westin's pirate-themed room

Jess and Jared: (Powder room and lounge room)

Jess decorated their zone with plenty of wallpaper – cleverly mixing patterns in the power room, which all the judges loved it; the tiled wallpaper was a hit.

In the lounge room the wallpaper scored well again, with judges were very loving the pattern. Wendy said it was “perfect,” and that the marble “fireplace is great.” LLB said: “It feels like a summer holiday. It’s quite surfy, but posh at the same time.” Their statement piece wicker console was also a hit.

Leigh and Kristie: (Main bathroom and Billy’s bedroom)

The combined bath and shower was hit and miss. Both Drew and Wendy liked the space, with Drew saying “I’m really loving what they’ve done in here. I think it’s really subtle.” But also said it looked like someone had left a bath in the shower. Wendy agreed, saying it all felt a bit crowded and awkward.

In Billy’s bedroom all the judges agreed the money was spent on the large murals and simply buying stuff, rather than on good, well thought out design. Whilst it is agreed the couple have an eye for style, the judges warned that Leigh and Kirstie need to lift their game to stay in the competition.

Leigh and Kristie's dinosaur-themed bedroom for Billy

"As desirable as a freestanding bath is, sometimes it just doesn't work in a space."

Wendy Moore

Leigh and Kristie's bathroom

Kim and Michelle's master bedroom

Kim and Michelle: (Mudroom and master bedroom)

The mother and daughter duo have topped the leaderboard this week so far with 20/30 points. The mudroom wowed the judges with LLB saying, “The only mud that’s allowed in here is the mud from Buckingham Palace.” Wendy said: “This is the stuff of mudroom dreams... they’ve made it all the things that make the Hamptons so desirable.”

In the master bedroom: Wendy liked it and thought the wainscoting was “lovely.” She said the bed styling was perfect and that the curtains “were the best I’ve seen in a House Rules house.” Drew liked that the team had made a built-in seat for a “space within a space.” LLB disagreed and said it was “a rather capricious use of space… there is no sense of design here at all.”

"The last time I was in a space this posh, it had Prince Charles in the corner."

Laurence Llewelyn Bowen

Kim and Michelle's mud room

Kim and Michelle's master bedroom

Master bedroom

Chiara and David: (Laundry, hallway and dining room nook)

In the laundry Chiara and David used yellow grout in the hexagonal marble tiles in the splashback, which Drew thought was “fun,” and labelled LLB “not fun” for disagreeing. LLB said, “What I think they’ve done is taken very decent cabinetry and I think made an ugly room.”

With their blue and white striped wallpapered ceiling in the hallway, the judges thought this was a bad choice given the uneven ceiling. Drew said that, “Once you have all those steps in the ceiling and you can’t run the pattern through fluently, then don’t do it.” Wendy pointed out that vertical joinery (VJ) boards should be run vertically, not diagonally as Chiara and David had installed them.

Kiara and David's dining nook

The dining room nook didn’t impress either - LLB thought their cabinet statement piece was “deliberate, perverse, and irritating beyond belief,” whilst Wendy thought it was a bad call to choose a square table in such a long, skinny space.

Poor David broke down in tears following the judges scathing feedback leaving himself and Chiara at the bottom of the leader board with 14/30 points. “I am here to the end and I’m not hitting the mark… we let ourselves down.”

Next will come the homeowners, Mel and Dave's scores to see who wins the week and who will sleep in the tent.

Diana MooreContent expert, florist and interior decorator Diana Moore has been passionate about helping others make the perfect home ever since she moved into her own. From styling her local bar to feel like your best friend’s lounge room, to randomly restyling people’s bookshelves, Diana is a firm believer in making the best of what you have in front of you.